Automatic car-brake



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. L.'MUNDAY.

AUTOMATIC GAR BRAKE.

No. 325,215. Patented Aug. 25, .1885.

Inverter N. PETERS. Pholo-Uihognpher, Wahmginn, D, c.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. L. MUNDAY. L AUTOMATIG GAR BRAKE. No. 325,215. PatentedAug. 25, 1885.

UNTTien STATES PATENT @rrrcn.

JOHN L. MUNDAY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

AUTOMATIC CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 325,215, dated August 25, 1885.

Application filed December 26, 1884.

To (LZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN L. llTUNDAY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of St. Louis, and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Gar-Brakes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings and letters of reference marked thereon.

The object of my invention is to provide a car with a brake that can be operated by the movement of the draw-head of the ear, and which can be set for operation by a given revo lution of the wheels of the car, thus setting the brake for operation whenever the wheels attain a certain speed, and not until then; and the nature of my invention consists in providing the car-axle with a. lug or cam, by means of which a fulcrunrbar is thrown up against a brake-lever and on to a trip-spring,

all operating to set the brake ready to receive the action of the draw-head of the car when the momentum of the car presses the draw 1 head back.

In order to enable others skilh d in the art to make and use my invention, lwill describe it more fully.

Figure 1, in the iii-st sheet of the drawings, 1

sh )ws a hoftom view of the ear-truck with my invention attachel. Fig. 2, first sheet, is a longittulinal vertical section on line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of a recovery spring, showing a part of the slotted plate and fulcrum-bar. Fig. 4, Sheet 2, is a detail top view of the brake mechanism with a part of the truck frame cut away, showing the brakelever at rest and the brake set for action. Fig. 5 is a like view with view in Fig. 1, with the brake applied and the draw-head shoved in. Fig. (i is an elevation view of the fulcrum-bar. Fig. 7 is an elevation view of a guideplate. view of a guide-hanger and trip-spring. Fig. 9 is a sectional view of caraxle and the. cam on the same.

A in the drawings is the car-truck, with ordinary brake, draw-head, brake rods, and chains attached, with wheels and axles.

B is abrake-lever attached at one end to 3 the draw-head by appropriate attachment,

Fig. 8 is a. detail 1'ierspectivel (No model.)

and at the other end to the brakerod ot' the ordinary carbrake. This brake-lever passes through a slot in the guide-plate G, which serves to support it in a horizontal position, and at the same time allow it to move freely back and forth. This brake-lever B is provided with a pin or shoulder nearits center, to prevent it from working too far back, or out of place in the slot of the guide-plate O. This plate 0 is fastened to the under side of the frame-work of the car-trijlck, and serves to keep the brake-lever B in position, as above described.

D is a fulcrum-bar, provided at one end with a slot and at the other with a movable tongue, (I, which is hinged on it and allowed to move up and down a short distance, to disengage itself from the trip-spring T without the downward movement of the fulcrum-bar D. This fulcrulnbar is placed side by side with the plate 0, and fastened to it with a pin passing through the slot atthe end, and on which it moves, and has its tongue (1 moving in the slot of the guide-hanger h. It is also i provided with a shoulder or projection, e, on 1 its upper face, about midway from end to end, i

which serves as a fulcrum for the brake-lever 1 B when the fulcrumbar is thrown up and the brake is set, and also to pull the end of the tongue off the trip-spring T when it is i thrown up by the backward motion of the 1 cars. This fulcrum-bar also hasa projection on i the lower side, near the end,to receive the i strokes of the cam or lug on the axle; but it may be made without it. It is designated by letter pin the drawings.

L is a lag or cam on the axle, and serves to throw the fulcrum-bar and its tongue upon the trip-spring T when the wheels of the car-truck are revolving at a given speed.

h is a guide-hanger, provided with a slot to guide the tongue (1, and with a trip-spring, T, to hold the tongue and fulcrum-bar up when they are thrown up by the striking of the cam L upon thclowcr side of the fulcrum bar or its projection 12. This hanger is fastened to the under side of the car-truck frame, and to the spring is attached the lever M, which is an ordinary lever, and by means of which the spring T is drawn out when the tension-chain i X is pulled by the brake-rod to which it is attached,which takes place whenever the brake is drawn against the wheels by the backward movement of the draw-head.

It is an ordinary spring, pressing on the end of the fulcrum-bar, and operates to hold it back in position unless pulled forward by the brake-lever B, in which case it throws the fulcrum-bar back as soon as it is released by the brake-lever.

Now, when my brake is at rest and set, it is in position as shown in Fig. 2, the tripspring '1 holding the tongue (I, which supports the fulcrum-bar in a horizontal position and brings its fulcrum up so as to permit the brake lever B to engage the fulcrum or shoulder onits upper side, and when the brake is not set the fulcrumbarD, with its tongue d, assumes the position of the dotted lines, as shown in Fig. 2, and when in this position the car may be shifted in the yard from place to place at ordinary yard-speed without setting the brake or interfering with the brake by the moving in or out of the draw-head; but as soon as the train starts off at a more rapid speed the cam or lug on the aXle begins to strike'the lower projection, 19, of the fulcrum bar D, and as soon as the revolutions become rapid enough to become effective it will throw the fulcrum-bar and tongue up and on top the trip-spring T, which will hold the fulcrumbnr up ready for the action of the brake-lever upon the fulcrum or projecting shoulder of the fulcrum-bar, for when it is thrown up in this position its shoulder or fulcrum e furnishes a fulcrum for the brake-lever B, so that when the draw-head is forced back the brakelever 13 will engage the projection e on the fulcrum-bar, and consequently set the brakes against the wheels. At the same time that the brake-rod is drawn, the chain N pulls upon the lever M, and pulls the trip-spring T back,

thus releasing the tongue 01, and letting it fall beneath the tripspring T, so that when the trip-spring flies back it will not engage it again, but will pass above the tongue d. Now, when the pressure is taken off the drawhead, the fulcrum-bar, being released, will fall to its original position, as seen in position of the dottedlines in Fig 2. If, however, thetrain shouldhappen to be run backward at sufficient speed to set the brake, the draw-head, being shoved in the fulcrum on the fulcrum-bar, will pass up in front of the brake le er B, and in this case, when the draw-head is pulled out, it will pull the fulcrum bar forward with it, and pull the tongue off the trip spring T, and thus let it fall down in its original position again. Now,

What I claim as new, and for which I ask Letters Patent of the United States to be granted, is

1. In an automatic car-brake, the fulcrumbar D, with its shoulder a and its tongue (I, in combination with the trip-spring T, as above described, and for the purposes set forth.

2. In an automatic car-brake, the combination of the brake-lever B, the fulcrum-bar D, trip-spring '1, and cam or lug L.

JOHN L. MUN-DAY.

Witnesses WM. M. EcoLEs, JOHN W. COLLINS. 

